IT ALL STARTED WITH A BOY

The Reunion

  
     "I don't want to go!"
"Jefferson!"
"Tell them I've got the flu."
"But that'll only make them come here."
"I don't wanna go!"
"Quit being such a baby, Squirt."
I groaned and put on my best puppy dog face.
"Please."
"You're going."
"Aw man!"
I leaned on the car seat, crossing my arms and pouting. I know, I know, I'm not six anymore. But come on, teens and toddlers practically act the same way.
"I thought you like the girls." Mom asked, starting the engine.
"I do!"
"Then why don't you want to go?"
" 'Cos there are other people there!"
"And how is that bad?"
"I've already let three, no five other people into my life. I don't need more."
"Antisocial." Lee said, smirking.
"Jerk." I retorted.
"Stop that." Mom scolded.
We were silent for a whike as we made our way towards the North.
"Richard asked me to go on a date with him." Mom said suddenly, a huge shy grin on her face. Lee's eyes grew wide and he laughed happily. Anger welled up inside of me as I stared out the window.
"Really?"
Mom laughed.
"Yes, really."
"So, are you gonna go?" he asked, leaning forward in his seat.
"What am I even asking? You're going! When is it? Where is he taking you? What are you going to wear?"
"Slow down Leonardo." Mom said, laughing. She looked really happy. Happier than she has ever been since Dad died, and that made me even angrier.
"I can't! Wait, how did he ask you? Was it face to face? Or over the phone? Please don't tell me over the phone. Did he have that look? You know, the one Dad had when he asked you? If he had the look then he's sooo a keeper. Damn, that man is fine."
I drummed my fingers over the dashboard, fuming.
"He mentioned something about taking me to that new restaurant out of the estate. But I told him I would rather go to Creepers."
Creepers was a nice little place on the West side of the estate. A lot of students from KFC and Crystal Point Academy go there after school for a quick snack or meal before going home. It was also the same place Dad used to take us to before he died.
How could she even think of wanting to go?! And to Creepers of all places! It was our spot! Dad's spot.
Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock..
"I really want to say yes...but, oh well, I don't know, he's-"
"Too young." I cut in, venom in my voice. Lee punched my arm. Hard.
"Ow!"
"What was that supposed to mean? Huhn, Squirt?"he asked, glaring daggers at me. I returned the favour.
"Well, he is!"
"So, what? You're saying Mom's too old now?"
"No!"
"Or maybe she's not attractive enough to win the heart of a twenty-six year old man! She's not even fifty yet, she's forty-two! What's your problem?"
"My problem is you! Both of you! The whole world!"
Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock..
"You all keep acting like it's not a big deal! Like Dad was never a part of our lives!"
Tick, tock, tick, tock..
"Everyone keeps going to work and going to school and moving around like he didn't die! Especially both of you! He was our father! Your husband! How could you just dismiss him like he never existed?! Like he wasn't a part of our lives! Dad loved you! And you're both betraying him and not even feeling bad about it!"
Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick..
"That's what's got you riled up? That's what's not letting you move on?"
"Isn't it enough? He was our father!"
"He's  dead! Gone to the grave! Six feet under! No amount of grieving is going to bring him back!"
Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock..
"So instead of being hauled up in our rooms and acting pitiful, we did what Dad would've have wanted us to do. We moved on. Mom's moved on and she's happy. Unlike you."
"Leonardo." Mom scolded but I could see the quiet tears that slid down her cheeks.
"No Mom. He needs to hear this."
Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick..
"Stop being a child Jeff. Dad's gone. He's gone and he's never coming back. So stop holding on to him like he could just get up from his grave one morning like the way you get up from bed. We haven't forgotten him. We'll never forget him, but that doesn't mean we have to live the rest of our lives afraid that if we get close to someone, that person is going to end up dead or leave. Take the risk, Jeff. Or you'll miss your entire life."
Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick..
I glanced at my mother. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she drove. Her hands were trembling and she wiped off the tears every five seconds with the back of her hand.
Tick, tock, tick, tock..
Memories of she and Dad together flooded my mind. Their anniversaries, the family holidays, the night time family moments. All those times we spent together. The time Dad and I went to Abeokuta together and we enjoyed the history that the large town held.
"Look at that Jefferson. You see that house? The one with the blue roof? Your great great grandfather used to live there. He was a very rich man and built houses all over Abeokuta. Mainly because he had many wives." he chuckled at that last part and I laughed. The house was coloured blue with a grey roof and green and blue moss coating the sides. I imagined it as a new house, with fancy Ankara clothes hanging out to dry on the lines across the windows and horses holed up in stables beside the house. We sat on a rock across the road, watching the crumbling house made of wood.
"Jefferson Bejide Adelanwa." Dad said. I looked up at him, my five year old brown eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"Yes Dad?"
"Do you see that house? Your great great grandfather's house?"
I glanced at the house then back at him.
"Yes Dad. I can see it."
He nodded.
"That house, was given to your great grandfather, my grandfather, when he became a man. Then he gave it to your grandfather, my father, when he became a man. Then your grandfather gave it to me, the day I became a man."
"So you're going to give it to Leonardo?" I asked. Dad was an only child, so he had inherited everything when grandfather died the year before. Naturally, Leonardo was the oldest, so he would get most of Dad's stuff.
"No. Leonardo and I have discussed. The house is for you, Jefferson. I want you to take care of it when you become a man. Look at the house Jefferson. It looks all old and crumbling and abandoned, but that's only the cover. Only judge a book by it's cover when you've seen the inside." He was quiet for a long time and I played with some sticks I found.
"I won't be around for long, Jefferson. Leonardo is the first born, but you also have a job to do. Take care of your mother. Guide your brother when he's moving in the wrong direction. He's the energy, you are the intuition. You work hand in hand. Stay close to them. Do everything you can to make sure the family stays together. Your family is larger than you think, Jefferson. Protect them. Make us proud."
At five, I didn't understand anything he meant. I didn't even understand what he meant when he said he would be leaving soon.
I didn't understand, until that night. The night when Leonardo coughed and we saw smoke coming in from his bedroom door. The night when orange moving tongues of fire swallowed up our bedrooms, kitchen, and our living room. The night when Dad made Mom and Leonardo jump out the window to the ground two storeys down in order to save their lives. The night when a flaming table fell on my leg, trapping me and searing a deep wound into it. The night when my Dad picked up the table, threw it off me, picked me up and let me down the window into the hands of Mr Ajayi, our next door neighbor, despite the flames that ate up his back. The night I watched my father burn to death slowly and painfully. The night my father died, his last words being; "I love you no matter what."